latest news headlines
RWCMD Theatre Design Students Scoop Prizes at the Prestigious Linbury Awards
Two RWCMD graduates, Rhys Jarman (left) and Tom Scutt, scooped top prizes for the prestigious Linbury Biennial Prize for Stage Design at an awards ceremony held at the National Theatre in London.
The awards ceremony was the finale of a seven month long competition which will now showcase the works of the competition finalists at the National Theatre until 8 December 2007.
The Linbury Biennial Prize for Stage Design, founded in 1987 by Lady Anya Sainsbury, is the only prize of its kind and gives recently graduated stage designers an unparalleled opportunity to work with professional theatre companies, collaborate with writers, directors and technical teams at a crucial stage in their career.
Commenting on the success and opportunity the Competition presents, Lady Anya Sainsbury CBE said: “Every year stage design increases in daring, sophistication and importance in keeping theatre at the cutting edge. The Linbury Biennial directly contributes to this evolution by identifying the best emerging designers and providing a national platform to have their work seen and commissioned.”
The 12 short-listed competition finalists – selected from an entry of ninety graduates – were divided into four groups to work with highly reputable theatre companies. From each group one member then goes on to win their respective group outright.
Rhys Jarman (Theatre Design Studies, 2007) won the prize for his group working with the innovative theoperagroup, a company who has built a reputation for a witty, innovative and physical approach to theatre, whilst maintaining extremely high musical standards.
Tom Scutt (Theatre Design Studies, 2007) won the first prize in his group for his work with The Headlong Theatre which makes exhilarating, provocative and spectacular new work to tour both in the UK and internationally. Dedicated to new ways of making theatre, Headlong explores revolutionary writers and practitioners of the past and commissions new artist’s work from a variety of backgrounds to push the imaginative boundaries of the stage.
Tom Scutt was also awarded the Jocelyn Herbert Award by the Linbury Trust, an award which goes to the candidate who captures Jocelyn Herbert’s belief in the theatre. Jocelyn, who died in 2003, was one of Britain's most influential post-war stage designers for nearly four decades.
To win this award, the successful candidate is required to demonstrate a passion for the art of theatre, an exciting imagination and artistic skills that visually demonstrate ideas clearly. They must also show a respect and feeling for the original work, be it design, text or music, and a strength of personality and determination to see the work process through to completion; and not least a desire to continue to learn and develop new ideas.
The exhibition winners will have their designs made into productions and the winning designers will share around £66,000 in prize money, design commissions and production sponsorship.
Head of Theatre Design at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Sean Crowley said: “We are very proud of Rhys and Tom and delighted with their achievements in what is a very prestigious national competition; it bodes well for their future careers in the field.
“They will have been set demanding briefs, faced stiff competition and faced rigorous judging by experts in the field. To see them win is very rewarding, for staff and students, and a testimony to their individual talents and efforts and the tuition they received as undergraduates on the RWCMD BA Theatre Design course, which prides itself on preparing students to go on to achieve success in a competitive and demanding industry.”
The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama finalists will continue a tradition of success in the competition as the 2007 winners follow in the footsteps of past College group winners Max Jones (2001), Adam Wiltshire (2003) and Crista Noel Smith (2004).
26th November 2007
HEADLINES
news archive
search stories
FOOTNOTE: Select the news type you require in the red band above; this will enable you to see the current news stories from that section
© 1999 - 2012 Entertainment Technology Press Limited News Stories
